Venezuela and Freedom of Speech.

Would you believe Ortega is has come back to power and he was elected this time....  Now he can buy his suits from Saks again when in NYC for a UN event. I believe he still wear army clothes once in a while like Chavez or Fidel >> old habbits die hard

 

 

 Aside from providing capital, stock markets are a legalized fraud.>> indeed to each system, its frauds! But so is the lottery, gambling to name a few similar ones. I'm not sure about its negative impact on fair trade though, you may be wrong here. Well all of the studies on fair trades indicates that the stock markets are the prime obstacle to it.

 

 In big part, the emergence of new economies such as India, China and Russia and Brazil creates more competition and thus more pressure on the local grower. Which would normally evolve in a price increase since the demand cannot be met. To the contrary, they flood the market with cheaper commodities, undermining the price. Look what happened to oil in the 90's. Hang on!! let's not confuse China and Indian finished products flooding the western markets and basic crops from the third world

Comparing Guatemala pineapples or Ivorian coffees (they both produce both "commodities") with a finished products is a bit senseless. You can compare primary matters such as mining ores with fresh foods, but finished products could be compared with canned foods.

 

And it is the case for ore and other mining products (which are huge international conglomerates), but strangely (but when you really think about it, it is not strange at all) not for the food products. Not true. In 96 the price of wheat shot up above $7, coffee above $3; meats are presently at 10-year highs, cocoa doubled from 99' levels >> yes this price increase was thrown at the food distribution downwards the chain, but uphill, the farmer got close to Zilch. These price increases where imposed by the speculators diminishing their stock voluntarily to increase the prices. Maybe some of the prices were due to bad crops, but then again, the farmer doesn't touch the price increase, since he loses on the quantity. 

 

Everything is done to keep the farmers poor and dependant. THe same is true for American farmers. But it's capitalism. Indeed, the US farmers are up poop's creek themselves.

 

If you start paying them artificially high prices, all other prices will go up, we've discussed it. >> not if you take the broker out of the chain or limit his margins >> but we've discussed this before

 

 

THe farmer suffers from his inability to do anything else but plough. Sure he's kept uneducated, but so is the majority of the population in every country, just different levels of "uneducation," conveniently called "basic education." Those who want to succeed have to reach for higher education to better themselves. >> well I wouldn't want the farmers to stop farming (agriculture is the backbone of all countries' economies. But allowing them to live a better life by educating them is a olution. Most new-generation farmers nowadays have post secondary diplomas in western countries >> it becomes increasingly difficult to plough and achieve high rendements with you donkey and ploughs.

 

 Apparently no-one in the US has actually really wondered why the rejoycing and the deep-rooted causes, other than dismissing it as primary anti-US anger.  BUt those dancing crowds don't know the difference anyway. Neither do they know why they hate the US. It's more of a tradition for them, the great satan bullsh*t, etc. >> there you go , you just did it you moron

 

 

Funny, ever since Chamorro came to power, Nicaragua disappeared from headlines in the US. Who's in charge there today? Would you believe Ortega is has come back to power and he was elected this time....

 

 

This type of brokerage works not only for coffee but almost every type of foods, thus creating important costs that quality food is not available but only for the wealthy..      You seem to have lost your sleep over these speculators... Not that I am losing sleep over this issue (it'll take much more than that), but I believe speculation (and the whole stock market shebang) is one of the worst/evilest enemy of equal and fair trade. It is probably the worst aspect of capitalism.

 

The futures commodity markets are used by the big manufacturers/suppliers to hedge their price. Speculators do exist but this entire sector is a separate pool of money. It does affect the price you pay as the big guys raise their price if they lose the hedging game; but it happens usually when the supplies of a given commodity are disrupted for whatever reason and the impact is not that huge. It used to be speculators against the big money. >> but the big money has learned that it could make more money by playing the speculation game themselves, so since they couldn't beat the spoeculators, they joined them. 

 

In 1972 they let the the public participate in this exciting game, and since then the excess of money in the public hands is thoroughly sucked out of the public hands. THat soothes the impact of the price fluctuations.The speculators are usually blamed for price hikes, as it's now the case with oil, but it's a smoke screen. So in the case of oil (and everything else), the culprit is the present US administration (and a few of them before it, as well as the respective administrations of all industrialized nations) who run their money printing presses nonstop.

 

 

And emerging huge markets (India and China, but Russia as well) are changing this fact a bit and this creating tensions in the exporting countries as far as primary commodities are concerned, so unfortunately the US policies tend to be harder on the producer/grower than before. In big part, the emergence of new economies such as India, China and Russia and Brazil creates more competition and thus more pressure on the local grower. Which would normally evolve in a price increase since the demand cannot be met. And it is the case for ore and other mining products (which are huge international conglomerates), but strangely (but when you really think about it, it is not strange at all) not for the food products. The price stay low as those brokers keep the stock artificially high by keeping the prices high. And Monsanto is forcing upon the growers their GMO plant seeds to be grown. And of course since the ability to produce valid seeds for next year has been genetically taken away, they'll have no choice to buy other seeds (same GMO deal). Everything is done to keep the farmers poor and dependant.

 

 

And the fact that they are reinforcing their omni-presence is not really helping smooth out the US' image in third world countries that depend on good crop commodities prices. True, but in essence it's like blaming the speculators.Indeed, the speculation game has taken a US image (even if it is not just the US playing this game) >> Hence the WTC's bad image and some of those pictures of people dancing in the streets as a reaction after 9/11. Apparently no-one in the US has actually really wondered why the rejoycing and the deep^rooted causes, other than diosmissing it as primary anti-US anger.

 

 I meant the peoples of the respective countries. You conveniently left out the post-Somoza's Nicaragua, under the Ortegas. I didn't leave them out! I fully agreed with you as they are fervently pro-Cuba, but I only picked the ones I wasn't agreeing with you. Even in the Violetta Chamaro days, most of the country was still dealing with Cuba, but they were accepting to business away with the US as well.

 

 

but I hardly enjoy the way it breaks you and grinds you. >> well if you and your colleagues follow a few indoctrination courses, we'll have you ready at force-bending your bossing class. Aren't afraid of a chance yourself and your colleagues being converted? Fat chance, buddy!! If anything, we'll have you converted to kibbutz-type of sharing 

 

 This is our Budweiser cat piss compared to the microbreweries products. Your cats are mighty good to compare with ours. But we have very good microbreweries too. I know: I dare say where this is the better stuff from the US beers is coming from!! The Belgian Trappist beer Orval (these are monks living in a monastery, making just enough beers to circumvent to their needs, including the renovation of their abbeys) had to go to trial against a Denver boot brewey that was making a copy, using the name and the golden ring trout in the fountain logo. This cost them huge amounts of money (fronted by the Vatican I heard), but they finally won millions in damages. They reimbursed and gave the rest to charity.

 

 I consider everyone and everything between the grower and me buying a can of coffee the middlemen. We've discussed it once. THe speculators are not in this chain.>> sorry disagree strongly, these are the guys that explain their roles as brokers to multiply the price of coffee by at least four or five times its original price just for stocking the merchendise and and maybe transport it to the westren countries. Most coffee makers (from Maxwell to Douwe & Egberts) use this commodity/service because it cuts their workforce costs and don't care for the quality (since they blend all types of bad coffee into the good ones. What Max Havelaar is trying to do is buying the coffee at a much superior price, have local companies boarding it to the final wharehouse . Fair trade is about eliminating unecessary chain liks who hike up the price of the commodity and cary out the savings to the grower/farmer. This type of brokerage works not only for coffee but almost every type of foods, thus creating important costs that quality food is not available but only for the wealthy..     

 

THe manufacturers/wholesalers/etc get probably under 10% in profits, the rest goes to the workers/truckers/storage/packaging. THe mass markets make this 10% huge. It's the volume, not the margin. To me the middleman is the everything between the grower and the manufacturer also>> the Food Distribution Chains stores being the last necessary link to the chain.

 

as the local consumption would be consumed at local rates, or else no-one would be able to afford it. You're watering it down to one commodity. Just wait and see what the jump in oil prices will do prices for everithing else in a few years. Hopefully you're wrong

 

 

 I thought you implied they "care" because of our omni-presense. I take it back, you're a nice guy  >> well there was a bit of that in my statement. I don't know of one country that doesn't look up to the US in one way or another (after all the US is leading the way in a good or bad manner). The global economy is also closely linked with the US >> if the US sneezs, the whole planet catches pneumonia. So in a way you are right, the planet cares mostly the the US is doing well. And emerging huge markets (India and China, but Russia as well) are changing this fact a bit and this creating tensions in the exporting countries as far as primary commodities are concerned, so unfortunately the US polocies tend to be harder on the producer/grower than before.And the fact that they are reinforcing their omni-presence is not really helping smooth out the US' image in third world countries that depend on gopod crop commodities prices.

 

On a more general note, though: even in Iran, most of the people don't hate the US per se (quite on the contrary), but they don't like the imperialism they use in all trade matters.

 

 

You would be surprised to see the US market flooded with cigars from Honduras, Dominican Rep, Nicaragua. They support Fidel but the market economy dictates otherwise. Honduras and Dominica supporting Cuba? That's news to me. The first is a puppet state like Nicaragua under the Somoza regime, and the second one is too busy trying to grow baseball stars to look at Cuba.

 

 

 Just as an impromptu, I don't think theUS model of vacation with 10 days a year is a model to follow. I've never said I like it either but that's the way it is. The US capitalism is just the most efficient (but dehumanized) machine in the world. I may admire the structure and inner working of its mechanism, but I hardly enjoy the way it breaks you and grinds you. >> well if you and your colleagues follow a few indoctrination courses, we'll have you ready at force-bending your bossing class. It's all a matter of kicking the right butts. Having gotten a taste of both side of the Atlantic (I could've gotten married and stayed in Canada), I can tell you life is much sweeter on this side of the pond

 

 

I think he just found something (coffee salesman from the looks of his van) in the region. Socialism makes plenty of room for abuse >> you can say that 1000 times and I won't contradict you. In some of its worst aspects it even encourages the leeches profitting from the system  to become arrogant and DEMAND more.

 

 

 

 the Microsoft monopoly is definitely worth a Microsoftgates You guys took him by the balls, don't complain. But the fact is the man is bright and he deserves his wealth. >> he's not that bad a person, as far as I can see him from here (he did receive a cream puff tart in the face when he came in Brussels a few years back for his monopoly policies

 

 

Something I have to disagree partially on. While in all truth the man IS a genius, there are many geniuses and hardworkers out there that deserve much of the money Gates is earning. The problem with extreme capitalism is that indeed monopolization kills any chance for others to compete, and accumulating all the richness in the world is not very sane to say the least. I find the extremes very unhealthy to say the least. And people here in Venezuela can hardly buy original Microsoft programs because they cost at least half as much as a new PC. A bit of a money monger >> Chus, This is what the Europeans want to avoid with their anti-trust stances. And I never understand why the EEC does not encourage the Danish Linux more.

 

In both cases the US protected its markets (sorry for spoiling your idyllic view). It wasn't as pronounced in WWII as during the Cold war, but it wasn't just because the Europeans smile nicely.>> well I wasn't suspecting that the US did that solely out of brotherly love (although the Jewish lobbies certainly did help trowing the US in the war). The Marshall plan moneys has been repaid back in hundreds of folds and US investments in Europe are bringing them a fortune. It is only recently that European firms have been able to buy huge US consortiums (Mercedes buying Chrysler for ex)

 

>>> beers I like Stella Artois, good beer  >> This is our Budweiser cat piss compared to the microbreweries products. Once they brought me a dark Belgian beer in Quebec, it was good but I forgot the name >> most likely a Chimay, but we have over 400 of beers)  

 

You try breaking up the big three's  fruit monopoly (Chiquita, Dole, Del Monte) >> you get a price war or boycotts, the weaker ones getting killers sent to their homes, if you start becoming encumbrent. Here's another point. Even if you pay the growers the "fair" price, the middlemen chain is still there, so the price of the commodity goes up and that brings all other prices up (oil is a better example here). This is exactly where the trouble stands >> that middleman. Basta with him He's pure speculation and a real arsehole creating the problem. I agree that we need an organism that controls the flows and stocks, but not with the diabolical and scandalous margin he's having. Let's get rid of such rats

 

Percentage-wise, the grower will be only numbers-rich and have to pay much more for everything else. >> hang on, don't confuse the inflation rates in different countries, doubling coffee prices can only affect the consuming countries (and I want to get rid of the intermediate or at least control his profits), the growers in the third world is not concerned, as the local consumption would be consumed at local rates, or else no-one would be able to afford it.

 

Like the Italians or Turks - everyone's a millionaire, but a cup of coffee costs 10,000 Liras. >> old story now with the Euro Only when the global E needs those people to become consumers, only then a machine picking coffee beans will be introduced, so the growers could be used for something else.

 

And why should we care for the sake of caring if nobody cares about us?  I wouldn't say nobody cares for the US, partly because they are unavoidable you're at it again you moron. I don't follow you here!!! Is there something that makes you think that it is the world versus US?

 

I just wish they would be more equitable in the way they do things , it would solve much problems into this planet's welfare. they can't be more equitable, see above. Yes they could, but reducing the profit margins is simply taboo with the ruling classes.